Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq War Illegal Occupation: 2396
Total coalition force soldiers dead: 214
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

It has been 1690 days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive".
It has been 1135 days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began.
It has been 1095 days since "Mission Accomplished".
It was only 1347 days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII.

It is still 998 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards. Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging

Walter Williams: Minimum Wage, Maximum Dickhead

I really don't know who Walter Williams is, or thinks he is, but in a piece in the aptly-named Capitalist Magazine, entitled "Minimum Wage, Maximum Folly", he rails against minimum wage laws as being, among other things, "racist".

Williams, who judging from his photo, is African-American himself, really isn't clear as to why he believes that minimum wage laws are racist, aside from quoting some outdated report (that he wrote himself in 1989) on apartheid laws in South Africa, where the white-controlled unions were in support of minimum wage laws for blacks. (I know, it doesn't make any sense to me, either, and WW is no help).

But Williams, an obvious apologist for the excesses of capitalism (why else would he be writing in Capitalist Magazine?), cites a whole raft of US Labor Department statistics on the demographics of the minimum wage earner.

Well, you know the old saying about lies, damn lies and statistics. There's also another one: Statistics are like women of easy virtue--once you get 'em down you can do anything you want with them. For example, one statistic that appears on the Dept of Labor website is this one: "Among the four broad geographic regions, the West had the lowest proportion of hourly-paid workers with earnings at or below $5.15, at under 2 percent". This is literally true, but it does not take into account the inconvenient fact that the three most populous states of "The West", Washington, Oregon and California, all have state minimum wage amounts that are higher than the federally-mandated $5.15 -- the surprise is that the west has 2% of its workers who are criminally underpaid.

The capitalist-pig ruling class has been weeping and wailing and gnashing its teeth over the minimum wage law ever since it was first passed, way back during the New Deal. And every single time the minimum wage has been raised, they piss and moan about how many people will be forced out of work and onto the unemployment rolls, how it will be a drag on the economy, how it's oh-so-bad for poor people and women and minorities, blah blah blah.

Bullshit. While the Clinton administration was giving states the right to set their own minimum wage levels above the federal standard, this nation was experiencing an unprecedented economic boom that ended only when the so-called "business friendly" Bush Maladminstration started strangling the economy with its numerous misguided domestic and international policies.

Here's a sobering thought: Right now the federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. In the early 60s, when I was working at a pizza parlor making minimum wage, I was paid $1.25 an hour -- taking 42 years of inflation, into account that $1.25 is now worth $7.64. Which is more than two and a half dollars higher than the current federal minimum wage! (And while we're on the subject of inflation, gasoline was around 29 cents per gallon in 1963; that 29 cents is now equivalent to $1.77 -- which is what gas ought to cost; why is it over $3 per gallon?)

So, Walter Williams, you can piss up a rope. Shut the fuck up with all that sniveling because those poor employers are forced to pay an almost-living-wage to people who you think ought to be paid less than $4 an hour, because that's all their "productivity" warrants.

The next time you eat a meal at a restaurant, or stay in a hotel, or have a drink in your neighborhood bar, I hope you will be especially generous to the service-industry employees who take care of your needs, since they are -- by the very statistics you cite -- the most likely to be earning that exorbitantly high minimum wage.

But to be consistent with your own beliefs, maybe you shouldn't tip at all, since you apparently feel that they are already overpaid for the amount of "productivity" they demonstrate.

And I actually hope you don't, because I know firsthand what happens to deadbeat cheapskates who stiff the wait staff. It isn't pretty.

Racism "Not a Big Deal"???

Jesus, is Baby Doc really this clueless? Or is it that the Rethugs just don't care? Or are they sending a secret message to the knuckledragging Klan members, fellow travelers and wannabes over in the subhuman wing of the Republican Party. Like when Ronald Ray-gun went to, of all places, Philadelphia MS, to announce that he believed in "states rights"? Translation: Don't worry, rednecks, we gonna keep them uppity darkies in their place...

Newly annointed press secretary, ex-Faux News Repugnican apologist/Baby Doc enabler, and full-time blowhard Tony "Whitey" Snow said as recently as 2003, coming to the defense of fatboy oxycontin addict, self-confessed drug criminal and fellow bloviating asshole Rush Limbaugh and his stupidly racist comments on Donovan McNabb, that "racism is no longer any big deal". Hello? What the fuck planet does this asshole live on? What rock has he been under for the last half a century?

People like Whitey Snow and the other assholes who live at the top of the food chain think things are just hunky-dory all across this great land of ours. Everything's just great for them, and since their basic philosophy is -- ostensibly -- that a rising tide lifts all boats, then things just have to be fucking rosy for the people at the bottom as well.

Whitey probably asked his hotel maid how she was doing; she was no doubt smart enough to know not to complain to a hotel guest, so she said something bright and sprightly back to him, and there you go. No racism here. Nossuh.

It's hard to believe that people like this not only cohabit this country, but are rewarded by being elevated to positions of power and responsibility.

"This used to be a great country; what happened?" -- Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider.

Kenny-Boy Blames the Media

God damn that Liberal Media and its lying bunch of agit-prop com-symp lefties over at the Wall Street Journal.

Wait, did you say the Wall Street Journal????!!!!!

Yep, that bastion of left-wing communist-leaning business-bashing socialism, that veritable font of invective-spewing anti-capitalist propaganda. Turns out they're the ones responsible for the Enron collapse. Not Kenny-Boy, not Jeffy Skilling, and certainly not little Andy Fastow. Not that whole rapacious band of freebooting capitalist-pig butt-pirates who fucked over three-fourths of America with their shady deals.

But that's what the slimy fuck is saying in his testimony. Check it out and tell me, once again, if it doesn't just have to be a joke.

This Has to be a Joke -- But it Isn't

Baby Doc, obviously watching the numbers -- his poll numbers have sunk to his lowest point ever (32%) and crude oil is selling for a new world record $74 a barrel -- now says that HE's going to do something about oil company price gouging.

Yeah, that would be real funny, if I didn't just pay over $40 to fill up my tank. Hilarious, if low income people hadn't frozen to death last winter when they couldn't afford heating oil.

Where was the help, the concern, the crocodile tears for the "Heh-heh, Amur'can c'nsumers, heh-heh" when the beyond-evil über-greedy motherfuckers at Big Oil were stuffing their oversized pockets with record profits, in the billions of dollars, over the last couple of years? You didn't see it then, did you? Not when Bushco was lining its own bank accounts with the unconscionable excesses of oil capitalism at the expense of the poor, the weak, the unemployed -- and the middle class that is about to join them at the bottom

"This administration is not going to tolerate manipulation", Baby Doc said, without a trace of irony.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 700 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst this month and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

How's that shit, Jenna and Not-Jenna? That make you a proud father, Baby Doc?

The rest you, those who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

UPDATE: Whoa!!! Is this the end of the Bush Twins? Are they being downsized? Oh, no!

End of the Bush Twins? Oh No!!!!!!

Jesus, I knew this White House shakeup was turning ugly, but I had no idea that it would affect me personally.

Turns out I won't be able to run my weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" commentary any more. Shit. That has been a weekly feature of this blog since day fucking one.

Thanks to my good buddy over at Words Have Power, I learn the devastating news that the twins are being replaced!!!!!

Oh my god. I am truly devastated. Doesn't anyone care about MY feelings?

V for Vendetta

I just got back from a showing of V for Vendetta. All I can say is "wow"... If you haven't seen this film yet, go out NOW and see it. It is the most powerful film I have seen for quite some time, and the best one I've seen in years.

My favorite line (there were so many): "The people should not be afraid of their government; the government should be afraid of the people."

I came a little late to the party (I don't like crowds, so I tend to wait until the waning days of a film's engagement at the local cineplex to watch it) so everyone has probably already seen it. Or knows about it. Or has read the graphic novel, which is where I first came into contact with the character V, way back in the early 80s.

Nevertheless, if you haven't seen it, go! If you don't like theaters, then get in line at the video rental store and see it when it is released on video.

Hu's in China? Who's on First? Hu's Insulted.

Hmmm, let's see: Lunch instead of a formal state dinner, literally manhandling the leader of the most populous nation on earth, calling his country "The Republic of China" (that, by the way, is the name of the "other China", the nation-state that exists only on the island of Taiwan and in the minds of unreconstructed Chiang Kaishek-y Chinese nationalists), the vice president donning sunglasses, and, for the final insult, allowing a notoriously disruptive member of the Chinese religious cult, the Falun Gong (who believe, among other things, that homosexuals are not quite human -- a belief system that is right in there with the Robertson-Falwell-Repug school of "thought"), to spew a stream of invective for a full three minutes before she was silenced.

Yep, that about covers it. See Dana Milbank's commentary of the not-quite state visit of Chinese president Hu to the US for details.

Jesus, why didn't Baby Doc just give him a hotfoot while he was at it? Nothing like pounding insult after insult onto your guest, who just happens to be the leader of a country that is not only the most populous on earth, but also America's biggest creditor nation. And all the while not displaying a single shred of regret, remorse or embarrassment.

We used to have a protocol officer in this country whose sole job it was to make sure that these kinds of embarrassing gaffes never happened to a visiting head of state. I suppose that office is now held by one of those Mayberry Machiavelli Bushco hangers-on who served a similar function down in Texas. Where protocol consists of making sure that your dinner guests have their pants zipped up, and that your host (i.e., Baby Doc) doesn't eat his peas with a knife...

And some people still wonder how the United States sank so low in the estimation of the rest of the world.

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq War Illegal Occupation: 2378
Total coalition force soldiers dead: 209
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

It has been 1683 days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive".
It has been 1129 days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began.
It has been 1087 days since "Mission Accomplished".

It was only 1347 days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII.

Friday Cat Blogging

Failure "Not an Option"???

Baby Doc said yesterday that "failure is not an option" in Iraq...

Yeah, okay... So who's going to clue the little fucker that it's way too late to be making rash statements like that? The failure has already occurred. Our actions have plunged Iraq into a civil war from which it is extremely unlikely any unifying central government of, by and for the Iraqis will emerge victorious.

Other famous losers in history probably said the same thing: George Armstrong Custer on the bare hills above the Little Big Horn River at the Battle of the Greasy Grass; General Corwallis on the morning before the Battle of Yorktown; Henri Navarre at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Notice any similarities there? These are three notable examples where the losers in the battles were also on the losing side in the judgment of history. And history will show -- if we can survive our own species-suicidal instincts and our pell-mell rush to apocalypse -- that Baby Doc will also be on the losing side in the judgment of history.

Not that he really gives a shit. "History? We don't know. We'll all be dead," as he famously said to Bob Woodward.

Student Rethugs, College Newspapers and Squelching Dissent

This is what is showing up in college campus newspapers these days. One Christina Galoozis, writing in the Indiana Daily Student, says the dissident generals should just shut the fuck up.

Of course she would never use such coarse language -- the Rethugs are the party of god, decency and family values, after all -- but her meaning is clear. If you don't support the president and your ex-boss, the secdef, just keep your fucking mouth shut. It doesn't matter what you have to say, just shut up.

That's what Bill O'Lie-ly says all the time. Shut up. Jesus, these two are soulmates. Maybe she can get a job with Loofah Bill when she graduates. I imagine the interview process is pretty simple: Are you willing to do the things to Bill that Andrea Mackris wasn't? You are? Okay, you're hired. Now get on your knees.

But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

I suggest, as would my good friends over Yellow Elephant, that if Ms. Galoozis supports this fucking war so goddam much, then she ought to be in uniform and in Iraq. Military recruiters, here's your chance at a gung-ho recruit. You can contact her at the IDS email address: ids@indiana.edu.

Things have certainly changed since I was a college journalism student back in the early 1970s. Back then we took seriously the charge that we operated in the public interest, that our function was to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, that we were, in fact, the Fourth Estate.

Jesus, it is no fucking wonder that the whore media can't -- won't -- do its job. It's full of these glassy-eyed neocon baby Repugnicans, eager to do the bidding of their overlord masters.

Beam Me Out, Snotty, and Please Pass Me the WWIII

Little Scotty McWeewee, tired of pissing his pants in public, is leaving his post as Baby Doc's mouthpiece. I suppose he wants to "spend more time with his family", as every other disgraced Bushco weenie claims. If he had one -- too bad the Repugs are against gay marriage.

It's just another indicator of a White House out of control, but hidden in the announcement is another little gem: Karl "Mayberry Machiavelli" Rove has been relieved of his policy duties so he can concentrate on the upcoming election. This of course marks the first time that Karlo the Great and Powerful has had power taken away from him, and it may signal a sea change in the Maladministration. If he can't pull out what is increasingly looking like a debacle for the Repugs this fall, watch for him to be forced to throw himself on the grenade.

In the meantime, the Repug candidates are falling all over themselves to try to put some distance between themselves and Baby Doc: "W? Hey, I barely know the guy." And who can blame them? What record do they really have to run on? Runaway spending that's created the biggest debt this nation has ever known? A continuing bloodbath in the sand? The complete failure to apprehend Osama Bin Forgotten?

That's why the Iran thing is so troubling. The true Axis of Evil (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice) are already rattling the sabers. Who would be willing to bet that they won't bomb Tehran come early October?

Rally 'round the flag, boys, 'cause the Repugs are the party of "national security". Which, like "Clean Skies" and "No Child Left Behind", is another Orwellian corruption of our very language. We will see yet another in a long line of sanctimonious wrapping-themselves-in-the-flag positions that will once again seduce the Moron-American voting bloc into forsaking their own best interests in order to keep these venal and corrupt thugs in office.

But this time it could bring on WWIII. And for many on the right wing -- the radical Christianists, the American Taliban, the fundo Armageddonists -- that's exactly what they are trying for.

Not Even Safe When You're Dead

In some disturbing news out of Utah, there's a report that the American Stazi FBI is trying to pry loose the private papers of muckraking columnist Jack Anderson, who died last December.

Props to his family for telling the FBI to piss up a rope. Jack Anderson would have gone to jail rather than give up his papers, and his widow and children are willing to do the same thing.

In this time of cowardly leaders, whipped-dog media and heavy-handed Gestapo tactics, it's heartwarming and uplifting to see people who are still willing to stand up for their rights and tell the government to fuck off.

This kind of courage is becoming a rare commodity in today's world. Let's nurture it all we can.

Even Australia?

I've always had a special feeling for Australia, and finally two years ago I satisfied my lifelong desire to go there. After a month on the road, from Sydney to Brisbane to Broken Hill to Melbourne, I came away with the impression that I had been among the most likable, friendly and honest people that I had ever met.

I especially enjoyed the afternoon I spent at Australia's Vietnam Veterans Museum, where I was greeted as a long-lost brother by my fellow Vietnam veterans.

So it came as a surprise when I read the news that even Australia is treating its veterans like shit. See the story filed by veteran ABC (that's Australian, not our ABC) reporter Jennifer Macey for a chilling reminder that veterans all over the world have to continue fighting every day for their rights.

Australian veterans will be staging a protest on ANZAC day next week, and my only regret is that I can't be there with them to show my support. So hang in there, mates, I'll be hoisting a Victoria Bitter to you on the 25th!

Repugnican Corruption Runs Deep

Jesus, it just never stops. Repugnican former Illinois governor George Ryan was just found guilty of "steering millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to political insiders, lying to federal agents and tax fraud".

Okay, counting Randy Cunningham, that's two down, a million more to go. Let's not stop until every last one of the lying cheating stealing dissembling evil minions of the most corrupt and venal political party in the history of the world has been arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced to prison.

This is the party of accountability. Let's keep making them accountable.

Rummy and the Generals

I heard on AM 1090, the Seattle Air America station, this morning that while Rumsfeld may have lost the backing of several generals, he still enjoys the support of others: General Dynamics, General Electric, General Motors...

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 693 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst this month and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

How's that shit, Jenna and Not-Jenna? That make you a proud father, Baby Doc?

The rest you, those who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"